ENDLESS CYCLE , 2025 ART INSTALLATION BY GIULIA LAPENTA
THE WORK OF ART THAT ACCOMPANIES THE QUOTE BY THE PRIMA DONNA 2025, DARYA MAJIDI, IS BY A 17-YEAR-OLD STUDENT FROM THE SIENA ART HIGH SCHOOL, GIULIA LAPENTA
by Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle Trequanda
Ciclo infinito Endless Cycle 2025 Casato Prime Donne Montalcino Giulia Lapenta
Ciclo infinito-Endless Cycle is an artistic installation approximately 3.5 meters high with a cylindrical, saw-cut travertine base with a split top. From this base emerge six silhouettes depicting human heads made of 14 mm diameter solid round iron, hand-painted with a silver, gold, and copper metallic effect. The irons rise to form faces and then descend to sink into the ground. The work was created by COIMA under the direction of architect Elisa Boldi.
CICLO INFINITO ENDLESS CIRCLE BY GIULIA LAPENTA
Young artist Giulia Lapenta developed the 2025 theme of the Casato Prime Donne Award, which concerns Artificial Intelligence, sending a message of alarm and the hope of a cycle that begins and ends on our planet’s surface.
The art installation is conceived of five elements: the earth, the base, the iron rods connecting the base to the heads, and the heads and tails. Earth is the starting point, and from the earth emerges the base, which, with its cylindrical shape, symbolizes human evolution and the invention of the wheel. The heads represent AI and the attempt to recreate human intelligence, but the metal wires with which they are made of descend to the ground, indicating that artificial intelligence exists within a perpetual cycle.
“AI can reduce human creativity and create new pollution, but when we return to the earth, the earth wins,” explains the young artist, expressing her concerns. “I fear that AI will try to replace artists.” But when artificial intelligence reaches the earth, the cycle begins again. There is therefore hope for an ending that harmonizes humans, nature, and artificial intelligence.
ABOUT GIULIA LAPENTA
Giulia Lapenta is a fourth-year student at the Duccio di Buoninsegna Art High School in Siena, specializing in sculpture with teacher Veronica Finucci. “I prefer sculpture because I like to touch and see objects all around,” she explains. Born in 2008 in Poggibonsi, she has loved art since childhood, inspired by her mother, who was a sculptor in the past. She enjoys listening to music and plays the bass. Her dream is to turn her passion for art into a career, and she hopes it never fades, because through art she can express all her feelings, “the things I can’t say out loud.”
A statement that suggests an intimate and liberating conception of artistic expression.
Her personal story also explains her feeling for the earth as a “good mother,” capable of healing even the wounds inflicted by man. Giulia Lapenta holds a special place in her heart, her grandfather’s garden, where vegetables and animals thrive.
THE PRIME DONNE TRAIL
The artistic installation “ Ciclo Infinito-Endless cycle” is visible at Casato Prime Donne on the Montalcino hill and accompanies the quote by Darya Majidi, winner of the 2025 Prima Donna Award, <<With Competence, Heart and Courage, women will create a better world>>.
Giulia Lapenta’s work is part of a meditative journey that unites artwork and messages, integrating and enriching the stunning surrounding landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004. Walking this trail is a unique experience, capable of regenerating the mind and heart.